Birmingham Historical Society, BOOK, Book Sale, Book Signing, Exhibition, Publications

Celebrating Birmingham’s authors at Birmingham ReBound book release

Since 1994, Coke Mathews has drawn on over 1,000 books about Birmingham to recommend a selection of 50 that he believes form a compelling guide to the city’s past and present. In Birmingham ReBound, he explains why these 50 books help us understand Birmingham’s story. The volume’s full title says it plainly: Birmingham ReBound: Fifty Important Books About Our City 1994-2026.

A previous publication remains an important point of connection. Coke Mathews followed Patrick Cather’s earlier book, Birmingham Bound, Opinionated and Often Irreverent Essays on the Fifty Most Important Books About Alabama’s Largest City, published in 1993. Birmingham ReBound invites readers to continue exploring the city through the selection in both of these books that have helped tell its story.

The opening of Birmingham ReBound brought many of its authors together: more than 85 people attended the event on Sunday. An exhibit featuring drone photographs from Birmingham by the Book: A Guide to the Magic City added a photographic view of the city as a background to the event.

Two men pose indoors, one seated in a wheelchair and the other standing beside him, with a large sculpture in the background.
Patrick Cather with Coke Mathews
Two men smiling and shaking hands at an indoor gathering.
Two women pose at a Birmingham historical exhibition, standing in front of city skyline photographs and a Birmingham history book display.
People browsing Birmingham history books and magazines at a historical society display table.
Four adults converse in a gallery while one person signs a book.
Three smiling older adults posing together at an indoor gathering.
Four people pose at an indoor event, with one man signing a book or document while another holds a book.
Three smiling adults pose together at an indoor event with Birmingham aerial photographs displayed behind them.
Two men stand and converse at an indoor gathering beside a refreshment table with flowers, drinks, and historic photographs displayed on the wall.
Visitors browse Birmingham history books and displays at an exhibition stand.
Older woman standing beside a table displaying brochures, forms, and a box of envelopes in a reception area.
Two men pose together at an indoor event, with exhibition displays and other attendees in the background.
Three people converse beside an "Above Birmingham" aerial photography exhibit, with one man holding an informational brochure.
Two women stand behind a table displaying books, brochures, and historical materials at an indoor exhibition.
Four people stand at an exhibition featuring aerial photographs of Birmingham.
People gathered at an indoor exhibition featuring aerial photographs of Birmingham.
Two men, Doug Jones and Coke Matthews, hold books and papers at an indoor gathering.
Man and woman chatting in an indoor reception area, with two seated people and a walker in the background
Three people converse in an art gallery hallway with sculptures and landscape photographs on display.
Three adults having a conversation indoors near a wooden cabinet and rocking chair.
Two older men converse at an indoor gathering while other people mingle in the background.
A speaker addresses a crowd gathered at an indoor exhibition featuring aerial city photographs.
People gathering at an indoor exhibition featuring Birmingham architectural photographs and displays.
People chatting at an indoor gathering near a glass entrance, with some holding event programs.